Friday, December 11, 2009

Do we stop counting weeks now?

For the first time in a whole year we didn't get a blog post up on Friday. Do we shift to Saturdays now? Or Sundays? Try to come up with clever blog titles?

We have tons of pics and videos to share, but as I am in the truly overwhelming final crunch of a totally overwhelming semester a few bullets will have to do for now... more later... maybe... if Kev will do it.

Caroline's birthday party was grand. She was a bit overwhelmed, cranky through it as she did not sleep the night before (we ended up saying happy birthday right at 2:34 a.m. as she had woken up screaming, again, just moments before) and only took one short nap during the day. So an evening party with lots of people, including Fiona who just wanted to hug her and hug her and hug her... so sweet... but... she was. not. interested. Fiona would scramble to her and hug her and then she'd scream. Rinse. Repeat. But she LOVED her cake. (Everybody did. My goodness it was good.) And she received several beautiful Christmas ornaments that will be special keepsakes for years to come. We got the tree partially decorated during the party and then I finished decorating it after people left, while Kev cleaned the kitchen.

Caroline is definitely walking now! She seems to have crossed that line where walking is her preferred mode of mobility, unless she really wants to get somewhere fast and then it is back to the bear crawl. But, almost magically, in the day before, the day of, and the day after her 1st birthday she took off!

Caroline received a great walking toy from Aunt Janet, Uncle Doug, and Cousin Elliott. It is this wooden thing with alligators that clickety clack as you push it and walk about. She likes walking with it and playing with different parts of it. She also likes climbing on top of it, not a good idea.

Caroline also received a great set of rhythm instruments from her marvelous Godfamily. She truly enjoys playing with these. We spent a lot of time after dinner with her encouraging her to play her drum and it didn't take much prompting on our part. She played with it in all sorts of different ways.

She received many other great presents, too. New books that are just fabulous from Pa and Eepa, and a toy cell phone that she digs almost as much as the real thing, and from us the Leap Frog Fridge Phonics (one of you recommended this! thanks! she loves it!) And an adorable outfit from Aunt Janet and Uncle Doug. A gift card from "Aunt" Nancy. A cool d.v.d. from Silent (thank you so much! you are so generous!) And I'm sure I'm forgetting something else. And above all else she received MUCH love and admiration from many. She is one truly blessed little girl.

We had Caroline's 12 month appt on Tuesday. She's growing beautifully. She is now 30.5 inches (90th percentile) and 21.2 pounds (50th percentile), and her head circumference is now in the 93rd percentile. All along she has been, in her doctor's estimation, tall and lean (but not skinny). A very healthy little girl. She got a clean bill of health from her doc and a thumbs up for development. The first thing the doc said to us was "Well, she's officially a girl now. She's no longer a baby. But she'll always be your baby, especially momma's baby." Wow. A girl, not a baby. Wow. Our big girl got 4 shots! Most ever! She wasn't pleased at all. But she recovered pretty quickly. She was fairly cranky the rest of the day, I'm told, and between a budding sinus infection in me and restlessness in her we had a terrible night that night, but... the next night, best night in a long time.

Caroline seems to have caught (or to be catching) the cold I had last week (which is now a sinus infection, I think). This is only her second cold since she was born and the first was pretty minor as is this one so far. We hope it passes quickly for her. Poor dear. Ironically something always seems to develop the day after we have a regular ped. visit. Always. A leg gets broken. Thrust symptoms surface. A rash appears. A nose gets stuffy.

Her receptive language comprehension seems to be increasing exponentially. Kev would have to tell you examples of what all she understands. In his word, she understands "A LOT!"

She continues to be playing with different laughs.

I think she has settled into being right handed.

And I'm pretty sure her eyes are staying blue and she's more or less blonde.

Oh, the results of the birthday ritual! We did this Korean ritual were you lay out various objects and whichever one the child picks up first determines something about their future. We laid out a string (for long life), a 5 dollar bill (for wealth), a pen (for becoming a scholar), a drum (for becoming a musician), a toothbrush (for becoming a dentist)... and maybe something else, I'm not sure. She went straight for the drum, but she didn't pick it up, she touched it, pushed it around a bit, seemed ready to pick up, but then, without warning spun around and picked up the pen. Our guests were delighted. They interpreted this to mean she would dabble in music for a time and then become a scholar... like someone else she knows?! Ultimately though she picked up the toothbrush and started gnawing on it. Come to think of it it might have been mine. Wonder where that cold came from... oops. Though she was sniffling a bit before the party!

I'm sure there's more, but it is 1:00 a.m. and I'd like to do a few more things before going to sleep, so this will have to do for now. Any recommendations for approaches to this blog in Caroline's second year?

6 comments:

I was so happy to see this post--I wondered what you'd do. I would guess that weekly might get to be too much, but your readers would love it! Maybe a commitment to monthly on the 5th? With other fun extra posts as time and circumstances allow.

I look forward to hearing if you all enjoy the dvd! (and learn as a bonus!)

I like Silent's idea of the 5th - maybe also the 20th? I love these posts, Sarah - it's a wonderful way to stay in touch with you all. You might consider posting alternate weeks on the baby blog and the scholar blog? Sounds like you had a rough night after this post - hang in there with all this crazy end-of-term stuff. Love, H.

I think monthly is do-able. And I love the updates, so don't stop entirely!

Caroline is exactly the size that A was at her TWO year old checkup. 30 inches, 21 pounds. A is definitely a lefty, though. I had never heard of the Korean tradition, but it sounds like fun. I'll keep that in the back of my mind.

Oh goodness. Lavender is her color too. I loved seeing her in the dress. She is really growing. Happy First Birthday Miss Caroline. Mommy's right, you will always be a baby to us. So many firsts coming so fast but nothing beats that first hug. So delicious. With your obligations picking up as they are, don't let the blog become a drag. It's no fun then. Maybe bi-monthly or even quarterly if need be with pop up posts of special occasions or activities. We love them when we see them. Hope Christmas works out. We'll all love to see you. xo's GAS

thanks all. so much happens every day with caroline. it has been nice to do weekly updates to have a record of SOME of it. katherine gave us a great journal, but we just haven't managed to keep it, but we have such a great record via this blog. i think i want to try to keep up weekly updates, as a discipline of sort, but i might shift to saturdays. perhaps it could be a transition into sabbath activity. in any case... i appreciate the input.

Jillian, do i know you? I'm glad you appreciate the blog.

Silent, Kev has started watching the d.v.d. with caroline and she enjoys it. She seems to be more consistently and intentionally waving. And she's quick to do "all done" when we say the words... not sure if she's always all done though. its rather like what she does when we say "How big is Caroline?!"